A new **Carbon Brief analysis** shows that in **2025 China’s clean-energy sectors were a major driver of economic growth**, contributing more than **a third of the country’s GDP growth** and supporting its headline growth rate of around 5%. Without these sectors, the economy would have expanded by only about **3.5%**, missing the target. Clean-energy industries—including solar power, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and related investment and manufacturing—together accounted for roughly **11.4% of Chinese GDP in 2025**, equating to about ¥15.4 trn (~$2.1 tn). Investment in clean energy also outpaced fossil fuel investment by a significant margin, with roughly four times as much spent on clean technologies as on fossil fuel extraction and coal power. The rapid expansion of these industries highlights how China’s pivot toward low-carbon sectors is now materially shaping its broader economy and not just its emissions trajectory. However, the analysis notes uncertainty ahead, particularly around new pricing policies for solar and wind that could slow growth and create headwinds for continued expansion of clean-energy contributions to GDP.
One_Emergency7679 on
Meanwhile the US is shooting itself by blocking hundreds of public and private renewable energy projects. The US is going to be decades behind by time we actually take this seriously
2 Comments
A new **Carbon Brief analysis** shows that in **2025 China’s clean-energy sectors were a major driver of economic growth**, contributing more than **a third of the country’s GDP growth** and supporting its headline growth rate of around 5%. Without these sectors, the economy would have expanded by only about **3.5%**, missing the target. Clean-energy industries—including solar power, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and related investment and manufacturing—together accounted for roughly **11.4% of Chinese GDP in 2025**, equating to about ¥15.4 trn (~$2.1 tn). Investment in clean energy also outpaced fossil fuel investment by a significant margin, with roughly four times as much spent on clean technologies as on fossil fuel extraction and coal power. The rapid expansion of these industries highlights how China’s pivot toward low-carbon sectors is now materially shaping its broader economy and not just its emissions trajectory. However, the analysis notes uncertainty ahead, particularly around new pricing policies for solar and wind that could slow growth and create headwinds for continued expansion of clean-energy contributions to GDP.
Meanwhile the US is shooting itself by blocking hundreds of public and private renewable energy projects. The US is going to be decades behind by time we actually take this seriously